Project Description

A software and hardware system has been created that allows for the
remote control of a four-wheeled vehicle with a mounted webcam. The
user interface is located at a control station computer, which
communicates wirelessly with the vehicle. The user can log into the
system and start control of the vehicle. The webcam's image is visible
on the control station computer, allowing the user to see any objects
that may obstruct the vehicle's path. The speed and direction of the
vehicle is controlled with a USB steering wheel and foot pedals; a USB
joystick is also provided to pan and tilt the webcam, adjusting the
current view seen at the control station computer. The principal
purpose of the vehicle is to control the location and orientation of the
webcam to provide visual monitoring of different locations. The vehicle
can be commanded over the internet from remote locations; however the
control may exhibit modest response delays because of conflicting
network traffic.

Code Repositories

The project is organized in two separate code repositories. The Control Station
software is written in Java and makes up the first repository. The Gumstix
computer code is written in C and also includes shell scripts; this makes up
the second repository. The SVN repositories are hosted by Google Code, more
information can be obtained at the respective project pages.